Denver Public Library to increase hours by 40% in 2013

Submitted by Shirley Amore on November 9, 2012 - 3:52pm

Thank you to everyone who voted YES on ballot measure 2A, which "de-Bruces" the city's budget, and raises $68 million by allowing the city to keep revenue it already collects but currently has to refund, without raising tax rates or fees. The $68 million will be used to improve police and fire protection, repair city streets and increase library hours.

What you can expect at the Denver Public Library upon final approval of the 2013 budget:

All branches will be open a minimum of 48 hours per week.
All branches will have two evening hours (with the exception of Westwood Branch, which will be open Saturday plus the same weekday hours as the Westwood Community Center, where it is located).
Central will be open 56 hours per week with Saturday morning hours restored.
Weekend hours will be added at several branches.
We will be increasing our staffing level including a combination of increased hours for current part-time staff and hiring for new positions. Job openings will be posted on our website once the 2013 budget is approved by City Council.
The new hours will be phased in beginning in January 2013, as it will take some time to hire the needed staff. We estimate that all locations will be operating with their new hours 3-4 months after we can begin the hiring process.

We are thrilled that 2A allows us to open our doors more to better serve our customers. We also are aware that the hours expansion will increase our need for funds for technology, programs, and collections, not covered under 2A. As such, we will continue to pursue private and public funds to close this gap.

Stay tuned for more information about the expansion of library hours and what you can expect at your neighborhood branch.

Shirley Amore's blog

Comments

Submitted by Great on January 18, 2013 - 6:28pm.

Please bring back Saturday and Sunday morning hours at Central library. My kids love going to the library on weekend mornings.

Submitted by Anonymous on December 1, 2012 - 8:35pm.

Excellent news -- any chance on bringing back Freegal music? Really liked this service and would like to see it return.

Submitted by Michelle on December 14, 2012 - 6:51am.

Thanks for your note. As part of our 2012 budget planning process we had to make some difficult decisions. We analyzed costs and use of our music CD collection as well as Freegal. Based on that analysis we made the decision to eliminate Freegal. We continue to have a limited budget to purchase music for the Library and we try to use it in a way that will satisfy as many customers as possible. Our music CDs are used by a wider customer base and their use actually increased in 2011 and remained steady in 2012. The music choices were also very limited with Freegal; we had expected the options to grow over time.

We continue to look for cost effective and customer friendly ways to provide downloadable content for our customers. Stay tuned for some exciting developments with downloadable ebooks and also magazines!

Thanks for your support.

Submitted by Anonymous on November 24, 2012 - 5:42pm.

The increased hours is good news! I'm unemployed, have no money to spend, and spend a lot of time at the library looking for work.

Will some of this money be used to get broadband internet for the public computers? The Dial-Up connections are too slow for many websites, and a "time out" function frequently disconnects the phone line before a website finishes loading.

Submitted by Anonymous on November 24, 2012 - 12:33pm.

Ditto the enthusiasm for Prospector. And please remove the limit on book requests. I'm homebound and find more and more subjects I'm interested in are being self-published which it appears the library doesn't currently buy. ILL is the only venue I can get what I need and want, but can no longer afford to buy outright.

Submitted by Anonymous on November 21, 2012 - 7:29pm.

Great news...I just hope new hires are friendlier than some of the current ones thst work at Hampden branch and U-Hills. Sorry for neg. feedback.

Submitted by Anonymous on November 23, 2012 - 12:11pm.

Maybe you were just having a bad day. Every librarian at every branch I've ever been to (and Hampden is my home branch) has been extremely kind and helpful. And I'm very excited for the good news! Hurray for 2A

Submitted by Anonymous on November 16, 2012 - 6:50am.

This is great news. Now we need a librarian for children in each branch.

Submitted by Lisa F on November 15, 2012 - 11:34am.

What wonderful news! I absolutely love the Denver Public Library and consider myself a high user of the many fablous resources it offers. I'm thrilled that branches will have more hours in 2013. Keep up the great work, DPL!

Submitted by Anonymous on November 14, 2012 - 1:30pm.

this library needs more hours because so many people need its resources. i would like to see them do a campaign to encourage people to donate their books to the library to help save more money.

i wish they would put a donation box by registration where people could drop coins in to help the library financially to show how much we appreciate this branch.

maybe even charge a 10.oo a year membership fee to help

PEOPLE PLEASE DONATE YOUR UNWANTED BOOKS TO THIS LIBRARY